Sorcerer's Stigma
by IrieAdam
Summary: Magi was a name given to talented people who were naturally born with the skills to perform enchanting wonders. But this name was soon erased from the history of Tomoeda when the king sent out a sudden proclamation to finally end their existence. Could the birth of a girl named Sakura turn the wheel of fate once more?
1. Chapter 1: Birth of Unfound Secrets

**Chapter 1: Birth of Unfound Secrets**

* * *

Fujitaka sat down on the bed beside his dearest wife Nadeshiko, who was peacefully taking a nap. He gazed at her while at the same time thinking of how lucky he was to be married to a beautiful angel like her. Despite all the difficult challenges he had to face in order to win her hand in marriage, nothing could ever replace all the joyous days that he would spend with her for the rest of their lives.

He slightly bent down to kiss her on the forehead, causing the girl's eyes to slowly open.

"Fujitaka?" the woman softly muttered his name as she was waking up.

"Had a good rest?" Fujitaka asked, giving her yet another kiss on her forehead.

Nadeshiko nodded and smiled. "The doctor told me I just needed to take a break. I wouldn't want to miscarry our second child after all."

"Good girl," he smiled kindly. "Don't worry about the king's proclamation, alright? I'll protect this family, I promise." He gently placed his hand atop her abdomen and asked, "May I listen to her?"

"Her?" Nadeshiko laughed. "You already presumed the baby's a girl?"

"Of course! I have this strong gut feeling, you know? That she's going to be as beautiful and as kind as you are."

Nadeshiko giggled and allowed him to listen to her tummy.

As Fujitaka was listening to the baby kicking inside his wife's womb, he was suddenly caught unaware by the cherry blossoms that flew with the wind outside their window. "Beautiful..." he whispered.

He slowly stood from the bed and walked towards the window. He leaned his head outside and closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath as he enjoyed the seemingly peaceful atmosphere. "I think I know a name that will suit her perfectly," he said, turning around to face his wife again.

"Oh?" Nadeshiko said in amusement. "What do you suggest then?"

"How about... Sakura..."

* * *

Eighteen years later...

"Kinomoto-san!" Takashi shouted the girl's name again. He couldn't remember how many times he had repeatedly called for Sakura as he was frantically searching for her around the busy marketplace in town. He was tasked by her brother to make sure she wouldn't do anything that would endanger her life but with the current situation at hand, he could already foresee himself getting beaten to a pulp by her frightening overprotective brother.

"Darn it! Where are you?!"

After almost an hour of searching, Takashi decided it would be best to return to the suburbs and hope Sakura had returned home already. But as he was walking by, his attention was caught by the sound of a woman's voice who seemed to be begging for mercy. Carefully, he tracked the voice that led him to a dark back alley where people rarely passed by. As soon as he saw two men who looked like scouts serving under the king's name, he quickly hid behind an old wooden barrel.

"Please, have mercy! I don't possess any magic, I swear to His Majesty's name! Please!" the poor young girl soon broke into tears as she begged the scouts, kneeling before them.

"Shut up, woman! I know what I saw, and I say it was real magic!" one of the scouts accused her.

"Please! Y-You may have mistaken me for—" the girl was unable to finish her sentence after she was slapped hard by the other scout.

"Don't take us for idiots!" he shouted.

Takashi clenched his fists. He was no longer able to contain his resentment against the uncouth men. He was ready to stand up and defend the girl when another person suddenly entered the scene.

"Oh? And all this time, I thought you actually were idiots." The scouts were caught unaware by the unfamiliar voice in the air.

A man who was heavily clothed in black stood on the rooftop of an old bricked building. It was difficult for Takashi to recognize the person due to the hood that was covering his face. He then jumped off the rooftop and safely landed behind the two scouts.

One of the scouts unsheathed his sword and pointed it towards the man in black cloak. "W-Who are you?" Both of the scouts trembled as the man calmly walked towards them.

"You can call me Raven," said the man in a husky voice. And he smirked. "And if it's magic you were looking for," he paused to take off his gloves and held his hands together, "what can you say about this?"

Quickly, he pulled his hands away from each other and threw a small metal ball towards the scouts that soon released a thick white smoke around all of them. While the scouts were busy finding their way out of the mess, the man swiftly ran to the girl and grabbed her hand, dragging her out of the scene.

"Where are you taking me?" the girl nervously asked as she was running away with the mysterious man who saved her.

"Is that the first thing you usually say after someone just saved your life?"

The girl quickly turned red. "T-Thank you!"

Before they could turn to the nearby corner, the Raven abruptly stopped in his tracks and pulled the girl's hand, pushing her to the wall behind them. He took a careful peak behind the corner and saw other scouts agitatedly running about.

"The others must have already found out," he murmured.

"What are we going to do?" the girl asked, fear clearly appearing on her face.

The man stayed quiet for a moment as he was thinking of a plan. "Alright, stay here. I'll go and drive them away. As soon as they all leave, I want you to run as fast as you can and hide somewhere safe." He was about to leave when he felt a tug on the sleeve of his shirt.

"You're leaving me?" her voice trembled, her eyes close to tears.

The Raven held her shoulders, reassuring her with a kind smile. "I'm saving you. So please... trust me."

As soon as he left, the girl was left to ponder on the last few words said to her by the cloaked man. "Did his voice... change just now?"

After a while, on the other side of town, a young chestnut-haired man was walking around the marketplace with a piece of paper in his hand. He noticeably stood out among the crowd because of his finely-made set of garments. His posture, his strong appearance, and the overall air about him. Everyone who saw him knew that he was no peasant, and definitely not just a mere nobleman. He was a man who further exceeded any of the lower noble rankings.

"He's probably one of the king's loyal spies," one of the people from the crowd whispered.

"From the Li family?" another had said.

"Perhaps."

"Tch! Assassins! Family of murderers!"

The crowd's murmurs were no longer a surprise to Syaoran. All his life, he grew up being feared by anyone who knew his name. False rumors such as their family's thirst for blood and violence no longer irked him. Besides, who could blame them? His family was directly acquainted with the royal family after all. And after what had happened to their country eighteen years ago, anyone who knew his family would definitely be afraid.

"Of all places, why did Eriol have to send me here..." he sighed. He took another look at the piece of paper on his hand to make sure that he was heading the right way.

When he finally reached the house of the potions master, he did not hesitate to immediately get inside just so that he could quickly finish his job and leave at once.

"Hello?" he carefully peaked his head in through the door. "Is anyone home?"

"If you're looking for Terada-sensei, he isn't here yet," a woman's voice was heard. She went downstairs to welcome the guest. "I'm Mihara Chiharu, Terada-sensei's assistant," she bowed. "If it's potions you need then, I can help you with that."

"Ah, right. A friend of mine asked me to get this for him." Syaoran showed the paper to her.

"Oh!" Chiharu squealed as soon as she read what was on the paper. "I see... So this is for him," she tried to hide her laugh. "Very well. I'll go get it right away."

Syaoran wondered what was so funny about what was written on the piece of paper when all it said was the address of the place and the name of the potion he needed to buy.

After he received what he needed from the shop, he quickly left and was about to head straight back through the castle walls when he saw a group of scouts who looked like they were chasing after someone. He eventually stopped one of the scouts and asked him what was going on.

"It's the magus, sire! We're finally close to capturing him!"

Syaoran raised an eyebrow at the man. "Magus? What are you talking about?"

"The Raven! He's a magic user!"

Syaoran's eyes widened. He had always heard of the name 'Raven' from the servants of the castle—from how he served to be the hero of the town civilians to rumors of his ability to wield magic. But the mere thought of it bugged him. How could a magus still exist in his time after they were disposed of years ago? Even though he knew that the scouts could sometimes be a bit unwise, he felt the urge to see this 'magic user' for himself.

Instead of following after the scouts, he decided to take a 'detour' so that he could find this person they called 'Raven' before the others could.

"And I was right to take this route," he told himself when he saw a man in black cloak blending in with the darkest part of the alley. He saw that all the scouts had passed without even having a single hint of suspicion that the man could have hidden himself there. He smacked himself in the forehead in utter unbelief of their stupidity.

When the Raven felt that he had escaped everyone who were after him, he was ready to run to the opposite path away from where the scouts had run to. But to his disappointment, another man's figure appeared right before him, blocking his path once again.

"That sure was some way to hide," Syaoran mocked, appearing from the shadows.

The man in cloak kept quiet as he carefully watched Syaoran's movements.

"Raven, right? So I heard you're a magus?"

He still remained silent.

Syaoran sighed heavily. "I guess you're the type who doesn't like to talk much."

The two of them kept their silence as they simply gazed at each other, as if studying everything about the person standing before them. Though Syaoran kept his cool, the other man stayed vigilant knowing that the person standing before him was no ordinary noble.

Syaoran's attention suddenly averted to the Raven's hand. He noticed a small metal object in the man's grasp. To his surprise, the Raven threw the metal ball below his feet, releasing a thick smoke around them.

Syaoran coughed endlessly as he was trying to find an escape out of the thick smoke when he was suddenly caught unaware by a sharp blade that made a painful cut through his right cheek. And it didn't stop there. More knives flew through the air, all aimed at him. He jumped and glided, dodging everything thrown at him. When he thought it was over, the Raven surprised him from behind, carrying a sword on his hand. But before he could swing the blade at his enemy, Syaoran was successful at grabbing the Raven's arm and gave him a hard punch on the face. The Raven fell to the ground and the hood came off from the person's head, revealing long auburn hair.

Amber eyes widened to discover that the Raven was, all that time, actually a girl.

"I-I'm sorry!" was the first thing that came out of Syaoran's lips when he realized he just punched a woman. He was about to help the girl get up when he saw another metal ball rolling towards his feet. "You have got to be kidding me..."

As soon as the smoke came out, a shadow ran in swiftly and grabbed the girl's arm, leading her away from the scene.

* * *

"Hooooeeee... That was close..."

"If I hadn't realized that it was you who foolishly told the scouts you were the Raven, you would have been dead by now," an annoyed Takashi scolded Sakura.

The auburn-haired girl laughed softly. "Right... Thanks, Yamazaki-san," said the girl, remembering how Takashi threw a smoke bomb right at the nobleman before helping her escape.

"I didn't immediately notice it was you because you had that hood on your head. Where's your wig and mask?"

"Onii-chan took them from me," Sakura replied, looking quite down. "He wanted me to stop acting as the Raven."

Chiharu sighed. "And you should."

"Ouch!" Sakura cried while Chiharu was cleaning up the wound on her face. "P-Please be gentle..."

"It's your fault for getting yourself in trouble again." Chiharu damped another cotton on a bowl of ointment before pressing it against Sakura's cheek. "Every time you act as the 'Raven', I always end up cleaning the mess on your body. Did your other scars even heal already?"

Sakura was shyly scratching her other unscarred cheek. "Weeeeeeell, there are still a few." Chiharu and Takashi exchanged glances at each other and sighed heavily.

"Who punched you in the face anyway? You look so terrible!"

"Hmmm..." Sakura paused to think. "I don't really know but he looked like some kind of nobleman? Or maybe not... I don't know! I wasn't able to see his face clearly."

Chiharu looked dumbfounded. "Huh? Are we talking about a ghost here?" she spoke sarcastically.

"G-G-Ghost?!"

"Did you know that there have been tales of a ghost lurking in the dark parts of town recently?" said Takashi.

Chiharu rolled her eyes at the idiotic man who was happily smiling, and she groaned, "Not again..."

And the idiot continued, "They say that during the war eighteen years ago, one of the powerful magi was betrayed and killed by his friend in a dark side of town."

Poor, frightened Sakura held Chiharu very, very close to her. "T-That's horrible!"

Takashi nodded. "Oh, indeed it is." Chiharu kicked him hard on the leg, but that didn't stop him from continuing his story. "And since then, his vengeful spirit lurked the town, waiting for the right time to exact his revenge!"

"Eeeeeeeep!" Sakura quickly hid behind Chiharu.

"It's a lie, Sakura," Chiharu sighed and punched Takashi on the stomach. "It's all a lie."

Takashi coughed from the punch. "That's mean, Chiharu."

"Then, shut up!"

The bell hanging by the front door rang as soon as someone came in. A man tiredly dropped a few bags at the front desk and looked around, wondering why his assistant wasn't anywhere to be found. When he heard muffled noises that sounded like quarrels coming from the second floor, he hurried upstairs worried that Chiharu could have been in trouble.

But instead of Chiharu, the presence of someone else surprised him even more.

"Sakura!" the man exclaimed in shock the moment he laid eyes on her.

"Uhm, hi Terada-sensei," the girl shyly greeted, embarrassed by her current situation.

"What in the world happened to your face?!" Terada rushed to her to check on her wound.

Takashi shrugged. "Apparently, she got herself punched really hard."

"Don't worry, sensei," Chiharu assured him. "I'm almost done patching her up anyway."

Terada was late to notice the clothes Sakura was wearing. He shook his head. "So I believe this is the doing of the Raven."

Sakura forced out a smile. Chiharu and Takashi, on the other hand, tried to control their laugh at their friend's awkward expression. Terada rubbed the back of his neck and sighed.

"What are we to do with you..."

Sakura shyly scratched her cheek. "Uhm, please don't tell onii-chan?"

Chiharu chuckled. "Suuuuuure. And your brother wouldn't notice a thing," she said, pointing at the scar on her friend's cheek.

Sakura blushed. "I-I'll come up with an excuse!" Chiharu and Takashi laughed at her again, causing her cheeks to go even more beet red. "Besides, onii-chan knows I went to visit Yukito with Yamazaki-san. I'm pretty sure he won't suspect a thing."

"Wait—Yukito? But I just passed by him not so long ago," Terada suddenly recalled. "He was riding his horse when I saw him. It looked like he was heading to the direction of your house."

Sakura gulped. She couldn't believe what she had just heard. Slowly, she and Takashi turned to stare at each other with wide staggered eyes. They felt at that very moment that they were about to get in deep trouble with Sakura's brother as soon as they get back.

* * *

A young man was seated on a couch near the open balcony of a huge and well-decorated room. He was peacefully reading a book as the golden rays of the setting sun touched his dark blue hair and shone against the frames of his square glasses. Although his eyes were glued to his book, his mind was actually fleeting elsewhere. He was beginning to get bored of the peaceful atmosphere, which had been stuck to him for days, when his royal attendant suddenly came in.

"Your Highness," the lady bowed before she continued, "a friend has come to see you."

A smile curled upon his lips as he heard the news. He dropped the book onto his lap and asked, "Would that be him?"

The lady giggled, "Yes, sir. And he doesn't seem to be in a good mood again today, too. What could His Highness have made him do this time?"

"Just a little errand. He should thank me for giving him morning exercises." The prince laughed.

His attendant was smiling as she rolled her eyes. She couldn't imagine how the prince's friend could keep up with his constant requests. "Shall I let him in now?"

"Yes, please do."

As soon as the attendant escorted the guest into the room, the prince quickly stood from his chair and went to fix a lovely cup of tea for his special friend.

"Good day, Syaoran."

"And good day to you, Eriol, you mischievous little prick!"

Eriol gestured to a white ceramic cup. "Chamomile tea?"

"Darn you and your little favors. I won't ever let you boss me around again!"

The prince was happily whistling in his own little world when he set his eyes on a small jar of honey. "Oh, would you like me to add some honey to your tea?"

Syaoran once again ignored Eriol's words. "Why didn't you warn me that the potion you asked me to get had that kind of effect?!" He quickly took the black-colored bottle from his robes and shove it to the prince's hands.

Eriol raised an eyebrow, smiling cunningly in his curiosity. "Oh? What happened?"

"I was wondering why that bottle felt really light. I thought I was tricked by the woman from the shop so I tried checking if there was anything inside. When I pulled the cork out, I couldn't smell nor see anything!" Syaoran sank onto the couch near the balcony.

"And then?" Eriol was happily shaking the bottle in his hand, staring at it in delight.

"I thought I'd try to ask your attendant if she knew anything about your stupid prank. But when I tried talking to the castle guards..." Syaoran slightly covered his face as he was beginning to turn red. "My voice was so high-pitched that I sounded like a squeaking animal! I saw the maidservants who passed by laughing!"

"Hmm..." Eriol was rubbing his chin, appearing serious as he was deep in thought. "So it actually works."

"Don't 'it-actually-works' me!" Syaoran took the pillow from the couch and hid his beet red face in shame. "That was so embarrassing..."

Eriol pulled the cork from the bottle and carefully examined the empty content. "Too bad I can't use this anymore, though."

"Hey! Why didn't your voice change?"

"Well, you probably left the bottle open for too long so the spirit residing inside must have escaped already."

"Huh?! What spirit are you talking about!"

"Anyway..." Eriol took the cup of tea and walked over to his friend with an innocent smile. "Tea?"

"Tch." Syaoran cautiously glared at the prince.

The other laughed. "It's just chamomile, don't worry."

Syaoran stared at him for a little more before gaining the confidence to accept the prince's kind offer. "Thanks. But be reminded that this does NOT change anything." After taking a sip, he asked, "Just where do you plan to use that anyway?"

"His Majesty, would like to hold a grand celebration for my twenty-first birthday. I just thought a little entertainment might be interesting."

Syaoran frowned. "You're not actually planning to use that on the guests, do you?"

Eriol simply smiled. "Who knows?"

His friend sighed heavily. There was always no way of telling what the cunning prince had in mind. And it had always been like that ever since they met each other when they were just small kids.

"By the way," said Eriol, "I've been meaning to ask, but what happened to your face?"

"Oh, this?" Syaoran felt once more the slight pain on his right cheek when he carefully touched the wound. "I guess you could say I got myself in a bit of trouble."

The prince pulled the other couch to where Syaoran was and sat on it. "Tell me," he smiled.

Syaoran twitched. He knew just from Eriol's current smile that the prince wouldn't let him get away without telling him everything that had happened that day. After being together with Eriol for years, he can confidently tell that he was already pretty good at reading 'smiles'.

"I met the Raven." Syaoran noticed how the prince's eyes slightly widened at the news. "I've already heard of that name countless times but I never thought that I'd actually meet—" he stopped midway when he suddenly remembered how he found out that the Raven was a girl. "I never thought I'd meet him in person. He was being chased by the castle's scouts at the time and I just thought of trying to drive him into a corner. I wanted to find out if he really was a magus like the others say."

Eriol leaned a bit forward from his seat. "And what happened? Did you get any proof?"

"Well, he was pretty skilled in surprise attacks, I'll give him that. There were smoke coming out—"

"Smoke?"

"Yes, but they were coming out from those ball-shaped objects that he kept throwing on the ground. I wasn't able to get any proof that he could actually cast spells or something of the sort. But I already expected as much since all the magi were gone since long ago."

"I see," Eriol muttered. He released a sigh as he sank back onto the couch.

Syaoran smirked at him. "Did I get your curiosity running?"

The prince smiled. "Yeah..." But his smile slowly turned into a frown. "Though the last part of your story was certainly a big disappointment." He sighed once more.

"Jerk."

"I wonder what our very wise men of the court would do to you when they hear you addressing me that way."

"They would be wise enough not to mess with me," Syaoran coolly replied before taking another sip of his tea.

Eriol laughed at his friend's obviously irked face. He later looked at the sky from the balcony and the smile from his face gradually disappeared when he realized that it was already getting dark. As the moon was starting to show, he could feel the uncontrollable excitement wanting to escape his chest. But it would not show on his face as he had always maintained a cool and calm demeanor.

"I wonder..." The prince's voice had stopped Syaoran from drinking his tea. "Are there really no more magi in our own tiny kingdom?"

"Come on, Your Highness. Wasn't it your father, His Majesty, who ordered their permanent removal from society?"

"I know..." Eriol stood from his chair and walked out into the open balcony. "But what if, by some small chance, at least one of them actually survived?". The prince turned around and smiled at his seemingly confused friend.

"What if?"


	2. Chapter 2: First Meeting

**Chapter 2: First Meeting**

* * *

"Hurry, Yamazaki-san!"

"I know! I know!"

Nightfall was soon to come. Sakura tightly held her arms around Takashi's waist. They both quickly strode with his horse along the road built within the mountain valley that was just outside the capital. When they passed through the thick forest, Sakura couldn't help but feel her heart beat even faster. Each stride along the path reminded her of every moment that they get closer to where she lived. She buried her head on Takashi's back, hoping to erase her nervousness upon seeing her brother.

Takashi was slightly surprised when he felt her face sticking close to his back. "Kinomoto-san?"

"I don't hate Yukito-san…" Sakura muttered, "but why does he have to come over today?!" Sakura kept slapping Takashi on the back in her annoyance.

Takashi forced out a chuckle. "Kinomoto-san, I understand how you feel but could you please not vent out your frustrations on me? I'm trying not to get us killed on the way there after all."

"S-Sorry..." A thought suddenly popped into Sakura's head. "But didn't you like getting slapped?"

Takashi froze for a moment. "What?"

"I thought you were a masochist."

He sighed. "Where in the world are you getting those silly ideas?"

"You always looked like you enjoy it whenever Chiharu tries to punch or strangle you."

Takashi was speechless. He didn't know Sakura had always seen him that way.

"But it's okay, Yamazaki-san! I'll accept you for whoever you are even though your fetishes sometimes make you look like a pervert."

The man looked like his soul was just sucked out of him. "How very... considerate of you..."

Sakura laughed. But when she noticed that they were nearing the end of the forest trail, she suddenly remembered how close they were to getting home. She once again buried her head on Takashi's back, wishing everything would go well with her brother later on.

"Are you worried about your brother?" Sakura heard Takashi ask.

"Mm-hmm..."

"Then, I guess I'm not alone," Takashi chuckled. "I could already see myself getting strangled to death..." and his laugh had suddenly turned awkward.

Though Sakura knew Takashi was just trying to lighten the mood, she couldn't exactly laugh along with him this time.

"Sorry, Yamazaki-san," she softly muttered. "It's my fault that you're about to get in trouble."

"Hey, cheer up! Don't worry about—"

"It's all that stupid man's fault!" she accidentally slammed Takashi's back once again in her frustration. She quickly apologized after hearing him whimper a small 'ouch'. "A-Anyway... If he hadn't given me this wound, we could probably easily escape from having onii-chan find out what I really did today!"

Takashi sighed. "I don't really think that's the problem here..." It's actually her role as the Raven that had been worrying him and all the others who knew about her other persona. "Well, what do you know. We're already here," he said when they reached the end of the forest trail. They could see the Kinomoto house from the upper slope, residing along with the other farmers' cottage houses in the lush green fields.

The sky was already dark the moment they arrived at the place. All the anxiety Sakura felt on the way there had come back to her. Seeing Yukito's horse, which was tied to the wooden fence, made her nervous once again.

Before leaving the house that day, she asked permission from her brother, saying that she would be visiting Yukito along with Takashi. But now that Yukito had unexpectedly come to their home right before her, she couldn't imagine how angry her brother would be towards her.

"He's probably going to forbid me from entering the capital for a while..." she mumbled.

After Takashi had jumped off the horse, he offered his hand towards Sakura, which the latter gladly accepted to get herself down to the ground as well.

"Thanks, Yamazaki-san."

"Come on. Let's go."

Takashi was about to go ahead of Sakura to enter the house when he suddenly felt a hand pulling his shirt. He glanced before his shoulder and saw an uneasy auburn-head hiding her face beneath her long auburn hair. He thought she might have just been feeling very nervous, so he gave her a gentle pat on the head. He was going to try to walk towards the front door again when his shirt was tugged even harder.

A drop of sweat fell from his head. "Kinomoto-san, are you trying to rip my shirt off?" he asked, referring to Sakura's very strong pull on his shirt.

The girl raised her head and looked at him with a serious expression. "Yamazaki-san, you can go home now."

Takashi's looked at her in surprise. "B-But what about your brother? I'm also responsible for what happened today. He asked me to watch over you—"

"Which you did," she smiled at him earnestly. "It just so happens that the girl you're asked to protect is very thick-headed. And I truly apologize for that."

"Kinomoto-san…"

"Besides, I'm planning to enter through the back door and just hide from him today," Sakura casually laughed. "So please, Yamazaki-san. Go home now and rest. You'll be going back to duty tomorrow after all, right?"

Takashi wanted to speak up and tell her that he wouldn't leave until he was assured that she would be completely fine. But the smile on Sakura's face kept telling him that she wouldn't take 'no' for an answer. In the end, he decided to give in to her request.

"Are you sure you'll be okay?"

Sakura chuckled. "Yamazaki-san, I'm not very used to hearing you talk so seriously."

Takashi smiled and gave her a gentle pat on the shoulder. "Alright… Then I'll be heading back now."

As soon as he left with his horse, Sakura quickly ran to the back of the farmhouse and sneakily entered the scullery through the back door. She searched for the basket filled with eggs and carefully slid her 'Raven' attire beneath the cloth that were holding the eggs. She then took the basket and placed it beside the fruits and vegetables on the center table. She thought that her brother definitely wouldn't think that the 'Raven' attire was in the basket when it could be easily seen by the eye.

When she was finally sure she kept the clothes hidden tactfully, she quietly sneaked into the house. Upon seeing all the lights open, she quickly ran to the upper floor, having guessed that her brother and Yukito were probably just having their chit-chat in the living room. But as soon as she opened the door to her room, she was both surprised and dismayed to see the two of them in there instead.

A young gray-haired man in a set of fine garments stood from the bed as soon as he saw her enter. "Hi Sakura-chan," the soft-voiced Yukito was the first to greet her with a smile.

Sakura blushed at the very sight of the man. "H-Hello…" It probably wasn't so bad to see his gentle face that day after all.

"Well, if it isn't kaijuu." Sakura staggered upon hearing Touya who was just standing beside the door, right behind her. "So you said you were with Yuki, huh."

The smug look on her brother's face made her forget all her worries, wanting to hit him instead. She gave him a furious look.

"We really were going to visit Yukito-san but…" Sakura slightly tilted her eyes away when she felt like her brother could see right through her, "...it just so happened he wasn't actually at home."

Touya rolled his eyes. "Yeah, right."

The girl flushed red, both in her embarrassment and irritation. "A-As if we would know Yukito-san would go out today! And why are you here in my room anyway?!"

"I had a feeling you would sneak through the back door and head straight into your room, so I convinced Yuki that we'd stay here instead." Her lovable brother grinned evilly. "Surprised?"

Sakura's eyes twitched. She wondered how he could ever be so accurate with his annoying guesses.

"This is still a girl's room!" She was agitated when she pulled Touya and whispered to his ear, "He could have seen my 'girl stuffs'!"

Instead of whispering back to answer, Touya clearly announced to the room what he had to say. "It's your fault for being a careless brat. What woman would leave her underwear lying all over the place?"

Sakura started to panic when Yukito could obviously hear what Touya was saying. She was frantically telling her stupid older brother to shush.

But he continued, "You should even thank Yuki for taking the initiative to pick up the mess for you."

Both Sakura and Yukito jumped at what he said. The gray-haired man was sweating heavily when the very flustered Sakura turned to look at him incredulously.

"Y-Yukito-san… You touched my under—"

"O-Of course not!" Yukito quickly defended himself, shaking his hands nonstop. He forced out a very awkward laugh. "T-Touya, could you please stop speaking non-sense to Sakura-chan?"

"Wait…" Sakura turned to her brother once again. "That wasn't true?" As soon as she saw Touya sticking his tongue out, she quickly ran out of patience and smacked her brother on the head.

Yukito laughed as he watched the two siblings having their usual everyday quarrel. But his smile soon faded when his eyes caught a slightly dark color on the girl's face.

"Sakura-chan, let me take a look at you," Yukito interrupted the two and walked towards them.

The naive girl could feel her face getting hot when Yukito suddenly cupped her face. "Y-Yukito-san?" As soon as she felt him brushing her cheek, she was alarmed to realize that what she had been hiding would soon be found out.

Yukito was trying to rub the thick foundation off Sakura's cheek, but he stopped midway when he heard her softly whimper in pain. He promised her that he'd do it a little gentler and continued to rub her cheek until his eyes grew wide, startled to see a dark patch finally revealing itself on the girl's face.

"I recognized earlier that your face looked a bit swollen but for it to look this bad..." Yukito sounded truly worried. He solemnly looked at her in the eyes and asked, "Sakura-chan, did you—"

Sakura immediately moved away before he could finish. "T-This is nothing," she said while hiding the ugly mark with her hand. "I just accidentally hit my face on a pole. That's all."

Touya grabbed the hand that was covering the dark spot on Sakura's face and looked at her with a stern expression. "Is that really all? Or could it actually have been something else?"

Sakura looked away, wanting to avoid his eyes. "It's not what you think."

A sigh of disappointment escaped his lips. "Sakura... I think it is." The strong conviction in Touya's voice made Sakura tremble in guilt. "I'll go get a warm towel." He let go of her hand and was about to step out of the room when Sakura quickly held onto his arm.

"Onii-chan!" Sakura squeezed him tight, begging him to listen. "I'm so, so sorry... I just… I only did what I thought was right… I had to do something or the girl would have been—" she stopped midsentence when she noticed that her brother didn't seem interested to listen.

Touya neither moved nor let out a single word. He merely avoided his sister's gaze until he finally let out another sigh. "Stay here," he simply said and left to get a towel, leaving Sakura and Yukito in the room.

Sakura was trying very hard to hold back her tears. She kept rubbing her eyes to keep them from coming out. But when Yukito gently held her shoulder and showed her a caring smile, she was no longer able to hold back and burst out in tears.

Yukito took her hand and led her to sit on the bed beside him. He comforted her for a while until she looked like she was finally feeling a little better.

"I'm sorry, Yukito-san. I didn't want to worry anyone yet I still kept on doing that selfish heroic act. I'm so sorry for being such a hard-headed person." Sakura tried her best to laugh it all off. She was later surprised when Yukito suddenly held her hand. The feeling was so gentle and warm that she felt all her troubles go away in a flash.

"Do you remember when I used to live around here?" Sakura nodded at his question. "You were still so little back then. I used to be bullied by a group of boys, calling me names like 'softy' or 'crybaby'. That's when I met you and Touya, who came to save me. Whenever Touya wasn't around, you're the one who defended me in his place. Your hands were so small yet you had the courage to stand in front of me and push the bullies away. I really admired you." He squeezed her hand with both of his and smiled radiantly as he said, "You were my hero, Sakura-chan."

Sakura felt her tears starting to well up again after she heard those words. Although it was no longer new to hear anyone calling her a 'hero', it still felt warm to actually hear it directly from one of the people she loved and cared about the most. "Thank you, Yukito-san," she told him in between her sobs.

Yukito lightly laughed and gently patted her on the head. "Now, now… Don't cry. I complimented you, didn't I? Here, dry your tears with this." He took a small piece of cloth from his pocket and handed it to Sakura. "For the meantime, I'll go and check on your brother. It's been taking him some time just to get that towel," he said with a chuckle.

He later stood up and went outside the room. After closing the door behind him, he took his glasses off and sighed. He turned his head to look at Touya whose back was leaning against the wall just next to the door.

"How is she?" Touya asked.

"Well, she's probably terrified that you'd start to hate her after you walked out like that." Yukito's voice was as soft as usual but he certainly didn't sound happy. He then saw Touya holding the towel. "You should get inside and attend to her before that towel gets cold."

Touya walked past Yukito. He was about to enter the room when he abruptly stopped. "Yuki, I don't want my sister getting hurt. She's the only family I have left."

"I know." Yukito placed a hand over Touya's shoulder. "And that's why I'm here. I'm also doing my best to help you and Sakura-chan," he smiled. "Well, I should start to leave. It's already dark out but I still have to meet with someone."

"Alright. Be careful."

"I will." Yukito cleaned his glasses and wore them back. He began to walk away and was about to reach the stairs when he suddenly recalled something. "And Touya…"

"What is it?"

He looked at his friend worryingly. "You've been looking quite pale recently. I think it's about time you stop what you're doing and tell her the truth. Your body might not be able to take it anymore."

"That's not needed."

"Touya!"

The hard-headed friend shook his head. "Until I'm no longer able to hold it in," Touya gave a painful smile, "I'll protect Sakura with everything I have."

* * *

It's been more than a week since Sakura left home for the capital. Her brother didn't allow her to go out until her swollen cheek took enough time to heal properly. But after receiving a letter from the Daidouji household, she kept pestering her brother that she had to go until he finally gave up. His only condition was to swear to him that she would never do anything 'reckless' that day.

Since the bruise on her face was still clearly visible, she applied even thicker foundation just to make sure no one would notice it right away unlike in the event nights before. She even wrapped a shawl around her head to keep others from noticing her cheek.

She was riding her horse around the city until she saw the humongous and grandiose archway. And she knew that she was finally nearing the inner capital.

The walls encircling the inner capital soared high up above the ground. Those resplendent walls were even higher than the walls enclosing the entire capital itself. Stories were told that inner capital's walls used to serve as a magic barrier that protected the rich histories and treasures of the Kingdom of Tomoeda. It was said that the inner capital was the home to many of the magi, filling the place with wonders so astonishing and breathtaking. But then again, she wouldn't really know. Those were just stories, more like fairy tales, told to her after all.

Nowadays, life in the inner capital was nothing greater than grand. It wasn't as magical as she had heard. It was as if the inner capital was no more than just a way to separate the true rich from ordinary citizens. On the other hand, the outer capital couldn't exactly be described as poor. It just so happened that the inner capital looked more luxurious than the other.

As Sakura was nearing the entrance to the inner capital, she became slightly alarmed. She noticed that more guards were stationed at the archway than usual. And what was worse was that a 'friend' of hers who was usually stationed there wasn't one of those men. She feared that it might turn out to be difficult for her to enter that day.

As soon as she and Kero reached the archway, she was abruptly told to stop by one of the guards, as she had expected. Calmly, she jumped off the horse and brought down the shawl from her head, revealing her seemingly innocent face.

"Is anything the matter?" Sakura asked one of the men.

"Where is your Seal of Entitlement?" the guard roughly asked her.

"Seal of Entitlement?"

"If you don't have it then, you are not eligible to enter."

Sakura was beginning to feel the heat rising to her face. "I'm sorry, but I don't understand. I have passed through this archway many times before and never have I been searched with that Seal of Entitlement, whatever that is."

"It's a requirement," another guard said. "It was immediately implemented by the Archidux Militant after another appearance by that foolish vigilante."

Sakura was starting to understand what was going on, but she decided to pry a little more. "What vigilante are you talking about?"

"You don't know?" The guard laughed. "Are you sure you're really from around here? It's the Raven! Who else!"

"That stupid man doesn't know who he's dealing with," and another guard had entered the conversation.

"He'll definitely have a taste of hell once the Archidux catches him. Others calling him a 'hero'... How stupid can they be?"

"Let the Raven be. It's probably just one of his childish dreams to be called one." And all the guards laughed.

Sakura was trying her best to control her irritation towards the mockery being thrown at her indirectly. "If you're done chatting, may I be allowed to enter now?" she asked, purposely barging into their disgusting laughter.

One of the guards blocked her way. "Hey, what do you not understand? No seal, no going in," he stared at her with scorn in his eyes.

"I was invited by the Daidouji household." She took the letter from the purse hanging around her waist and handed it over to the guard. "I hope that would be enough to be given permission to enter."

After the guard took the letter, he lazily pretended to read what was written on it. He then tore the paper into tiny pieces right in front of her. "Like I said… No seal," he closed in to her face and smiled with conceit, "no entry."

Sakura clenched her fists and looked back at him with contempt. "You're attitude is beyond disgusting."

She was immediately slapped hard on the face, causing her to fall to the ground.

"Lowlife!" The other guards grabbed his arms, stopping him from attacking the girl. "Who do you think you are to talk back to someone like me?!"

"Someone like you?"

The guards were all frozen to their feet as soon as they saw a member of the famous household that was feared by those who knew their ties with the royal family.

"Li-sama!" the guard who slapped Sakura stuttered. His body trembled as he felt the intimidating aura emanating from the fearsome look in Syaoran's deep amber eyes. "T-This girl! She was—"

"Slapped by you? Yeah, I know," the young man scoffed. He walked over to Sakura and knelt down to her aid. "Can you stand?" he kindly asked, and the girl nodded in response. He took both her hands and assisted her in getting back on her feet.

Syaoran noticed how sore the girl's face looked. "This is how you treat a woman?" he shouted at the guard who yelped in reply. When he saw the torn pieces of paper on the ground, he stared back at the guard and asked, "What is this?"

"It's a letter," Sakura replied instead. She looked down as she was trying to avoid the furious glare from the guard. "I'm supposed to meet my friend but, well, you've seen what happened."

"I see," Syaoran rubbed his chin, as if he was deep in thought. "Well, your friend would definitely be sad if you didn't get there now, wouldn't he?"

"Uhm, yes?" It was unbeknownst to Sakura where he was getting at.

Syaoran smiled carefreely. "Shall I accompany you then?"

Both Sakura and the group of guards were surprised at what he said. But the guard who had hurt Sakura was the most affected of them all.

"Li-sama! I must object!" the guard quickly countered. "That girl is not allowed to enter under the orders of the Archidux Militant!"

"If I remember correctly, the Li family only serves the word of the King." Syaoran turned to the guard and spoke coldly, "Tell me... Is the Archidux—Lord Yue—my king?"

The guard stood speechless. He brought his head down, his face trembling in fear and humiliation.

"I thought so," Syaoran belittled. He turned back to Sakura and smiled assuringly. "Shall we go now?"

"Y-Yes…"

Sakura was assisted by Syaoran as she climbed onto the horse. The young man then held onto the horse's halter as he led them through the archway, finally entering the inner capital. But before they could get any farther, Syaoran stopped abruptly.

"And just so you'd know," he turned to look back at the guards, his eyes unsmiling, "this girl is my woman. So don't even think about laying a hand on her again."

The guards were shocked at the words left by the young Li. Sakura was, of course, the most surprised of them all but she decided to keep quiet about it for the meantime.

As they were getting further away from the entrance, Sakura wondered why the guards looked so helpless in her savior's presence. She was about to look back at the guards far behind them when she was stopped by the young man.

"Don't look back," Syaoran told her. "Just pretend that everything's going smoothly. That man who seems to despise you will probably remember your face. So don't look back and give him the chance to remember you even more."

"Y-Yes!" She took her shawl and wrapped it back around her head before shyly bowing to him. "And, uhm… Thank you for helping me back there, Sir… uhm… Sir..." Sakura was expecting him to at least turn to her and give her his name, which she happened to have forgotten. When she noticed that the man wasn't looking back nor paying much mind to her, she sadly drooped her head and kept quiet.

The silence lingering around them longed for several minutes until the man finally decided to speak up.

"How's your face?" were the first few words that came out of his lips after a while. His back was still facing her as he continued to lead the way.

"S-Sorry?" Sakura looked puzzled and worried at the same time. She was frantically worrying deep inside if he was referring to the bruise on her face which she covered with makeup.

"Your face… He slapped you didn't he? It looked really sore when I saw you back there." He suddenly stopped walking and finally turned to her. "Are you alright?"

"O-Oh! That!" Sakura started laughing awkwardly when she realized she was worrying for nothing. But even more so, she couldn't stop her cheeks from blushing when she saw the worried look on his face. "That was nothing," she brushed off, feeling giddily embarrassed. "I'm fine, really!"

"Is that so?" Syaoran didn't look very convinced.

"I'm really, really fine! Honest! But I gotta admit… That man sure does know how to land a smack on the face. He's no match for me, though!" Sakura confidently showed off her pretend-muscles.

Syaoran eventually laughed at her incredulous muscular strength, making her blush even more. He swept a tear from his eye and smiled. "Alright, alright. I believe you."

Sakura felt relieved when she saw that he actually knew how to smile and laugh like that. Her first impression of him was that he was a fearsome and influential person whom no one would want to get involved with. Yet even if that was the case, there was some sort of air around him telling her that he was actually a kind person deep inside.

"Do you admire me that much even if we just met?"

The girl snapped out of her thoughts. "Excuse me?"

"It's just that I noticed you've been staring at me for too long," he chuckled.

Sakura laughed lightly at her realization. "Was I really?"

"Yes, really."

A sudden strong gust of wind caught the two unattended. The shawl around Sakura's hair loosened and because it was made of thin fabric, it was easily carried away by the wind. Sakura attempted to climb off the horse and get the shawl herself when Syaoran stopped her and offered to get it instead.

"Got it!" he exclaimed as soon as he caught the shawl that was flying in the air. When he turned back around, his eyes were suddenly caught off-guard by a beautiful scenery.

At that time, the rays of the sun touched the girl's long auburn hair that danced along with the strong wind. The branches of the abundant trees, left and right of the streets, swayed along as if they were rejoicing at her very presence. For some reason, he felt his heart warming up at the very sight; but not until he began to pay full attention to the color of the girl's hair.

"Auburn..." Syaoran whispered to himself, like he was recalling something. He soon walked back to her and returned her shawl.

Sakura gladly thanked him. She decided to tie the shawl around her waist instead since the wind still kept blowing. "Wow, it's pretty windy today, huh?"

But instead of commenting back, Syaoran kept a serious gaze at her and asked, "Hey… Have we actually met before?"

Sakura was slightly taken aback. "Not that I remember… Why'd you suddenly ask?"

"It's just that I—"

"Sakuraaaa-chaaaan!"

The two jumped at the sound of a woman's voice yelling Sakura's name from afar. Sakura was searching for the direction of the voice until she saw a familiar carriage heading towards them. To her surprise, her friend popped her head out of the carriage's window and waved a hand at her.

"You know her?" Syaoran asked.

Sakura shyly scratched her cheek. "Y-Yeah… She's the friend I'm supposed to visit."

"And all this time, I assumed you were meeting a man." He sighed, seemingly of relief. "Well, that's good news."

Sakura looked a bit confused. "What's so good about that?" But instead of giving her a reply, Syaoran merely gave her an innocent yet suggestive smile, confusing her even more.

As soon as the carriage caught up to them, Sakura quickly got off her horse and went to greet her long-time friend. The girl with long and wavy jet-black hair immediately went off her carriage as well and jumped at her best friend, giving her a tight embrace.

"Oh, Sakura-chan! I'm soooo glad you're alright!" Tomoyo exclaimed. "I thought the guards would kick you out! Did they hurt you?"

"I'm fine, Tomo-chan," Sakura smiled. "But how did you know I just got here?"

"I got word from one of our maids that she saw you being harassed by those goons! So I thought to get there as soon as possible! I had really forgotten about the seal. I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay now. Don't worry about it."

It was only until then when Tomoyo noticed the man standing behind Sakura. She bowed her head to him and smiled. "Li-kun, I didn't know you two knew each other."

Syaoran shrugged. "I was just passing by when I saw your friend in trouble. Thought I'd lend her a bit of help."

"Ohhh?" Tomoyo was in awe. She turned to Sakura. "Isn't that nice, Sakura-chan? You finally found yourself a knight in shining armor! Just like what you wished for!"

Sakura turned completely red. When she saw how Syaoran tried to contain his laugh, she felt even more embarrassed. "T-This isn't like that!" She quickly bowed to Syaoran for a number of times. "Please forget what she said!"

"What do you mean? You always told me how you dreamt that your dream knight had brown—"

Sakura quickly covered Tomoyo's lips. "My, my! What are you saying? You're so silly, Tomo-chan!" she laughed awkwardly. She turned back to Syaoran and bowed one last time. "Thanks again for saving me! Is there anything I can do to repay your kindness?" her upbeat voice made her look obviously sheepish.

Syaoran laughed softly at her blushing face. "You don't have to worry about that. Just think of it as an act of duty from a knight in shining armor." He laughed once again when he saw her stunned reaction. "Well, I should get going now. Take care, the both of you." He bowed to the two women and left for the other direction.

The auburn-head gazed longingly as she watched his back moving farther away into the distance. When Tomoyo saw the look on her friend's face, she smiled to herself thinking how interesting things might turn out in the next events to come.

She then tapped Sakura on the shoulder. "Shall we get going now as well?" Her friend nodded to her with a smile. "Let's take a ride together in the carriage."

"But what about my horse?"

"No worries! My attendant will take care of it."

"Oh, alright."

Later, as the two were sitting on the carriage, Tomoyo decided that it was about time for her to bring up what she had been itching to tell Sakura the moment they saw each other a while back.

"I heard the Raven showed up again after quite some time. Didn't your brother do something about your costume before?"

"Well, uhm, about that…" Sakura rubbed her arms as she was trying to think of a way to explain herself. "I used something else to cover up. I tried to hide it but I was still caught by onii-chan anyway," she chuckled.

"Is that because he saw what was hidden beneath your make-up?"

Sakura's eyes widened. She quickly covered her cheek. "Is it obvious?" she asked worryingly.

Tomoyo shook her head. "That was just a guess," she laughed. "You did well in covering it up today. But I wonder how many more you can hide…" The smile on Tomoyo's face faded. "What if the dangers you face become too difficult in the future? I'm really worried about you, Sakura-chan."

Sakura wanted to speak up and comfort her friend, but she later realized that it would be useless when she knew she couldn't promise to protect herself. Her head slumped down as she clenched her dress. She felt slightly angry at herself for making so many people worry about her, and she knew that she couldn't help it.

"Anyhow, let's not think of that for today," Tomoyo showed her a bright smile. She didn't want Sakura to feel any lonelier. "The very reason I asked you to come today is because I want to show you a gown!"

"Gown?" Sakura's eyebrow rose. "What for?"

Tomoyo chuckled. She held her friend's hands together and smiled. "It's for you, silly!"

Sakura felt a bit overjoyed but confused at the same time. "For me? But what's the occasion?"

"The prince will be celebrating his birthday in the next two weeks, and my family's invited to attend. We've been making some of his garments after all."

"Okay… But what has that got to do with me?"

"Okaa-san won't be able to attend because of business matters so I immediately thought that you could take her place! The invitation was meant for two guests and I thought of no one else but you to invite as well." Tomoyo sounded as giddy as ever. "It will be fun, Sakura-chan! Besides, I've always wanted to see you dressed in a gown. I'm sure many men will fall for you at first sight!"

"I-I don't know… Onii-chan doesn't like me going near the royal family, or even here in the inner capital, to be honest."

"Don't worry! I already talked to Yukito-san about it and he'll take care of your brother for us," Tomoyo sounded like she already had everything planned from the very beginning. But when she saw that Sakura still didn't look very convinced, she thought to bring up someone else into the conversation that just might stir her up a bit. "I wonder if Li-kun will be there."

And just as she had expected, she saw Sakura's eyes gleam immediately. "Will he?"

"Who knows?" Tomoyo innocently smiled.

Sakura fidgeted with her fingers. "Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to try the dress."

Tomoyo laughed softly. Although Sakura may be the strong-willed Raven that everyone knew to be, she was still the same simple-minded country girl whom Tomoyo had always adored since they were kids.

"But Sakura-chan, just a word of advice."

"What is it?"

"It's about Li-kun. He…" Tomoyo looked around, trying to find the right words to explain to her friend. "He may be a nice guy but you still need to be a little wary of him."

Sakura felt a bit uneasy with the sudden serious tone from Tomoyo's voice. "And why is that?"

"The Li household… They're the royal family's greatest asset."

Sakura became completely stunned.

"And if you're not allowed to get close to the prince, I doubt your brother would be happy to find out you're acquainted with the Lis."


	3. Chapter 3: Night of Masquerades

**Chapter 3: Night of Masquerades**

* * *

"Suuuurpriiiiise!" Tomoyo shouted excitingly. She laughed as she watched her friend's jaw drop at the sight of the gown.

"T-T-This is m-m-m-mine?!" Sakura couldn't believe her eyes as she stared at the beautiful white courtly gown displayed at the center of the brightly lit room. The gown was graced with lovely pink embellishments, which was her favorite color.

"You want to try it on?" Tomoyo asked, gleaming at her friend.

Sakura blushed at the thought of her wearing the beautiful gown, but then she shook her head. "Maybe not today… I don't really look anything that would suit the dress yet." In her head, she had thought, 'I look too plain.'

"Oh, Sakura-chan! You're too humble! Maybe you just don't see it but you're very cute!" Tomoyo saw that her friend's face turned red, and she added, "Most especially when you get shy like that," she winked. She then pushed Sakura towards the dressing chambers. "It's a perfect chance to try it on so I can make some adjustments later if needed."

Sakura sweatdropped as she was being pushed by Tomoyo. 'She shouldn't have asked if she was going to insist either way…'

Tomoyo called two of their maids to help them with the gown. And when they were finished, all three looked at Sakura in awe.

"You're so beautiful, Kinomoto-san!" said one the maids.

"She's just like a princess!" and the other praised.

Sakura turned around, only to be surprised by her own reflection in the mirror.

Tomoyo rested her chin on Sakura's shoulder and gently held her arms as she watched her friend's reflection. "She probably looked as beautiful as you are now."

"P-Pardon?" Sakura turned to Tomoyo, confused.

"I may have not met your mother, but I bet she was as lovely and as graceful as the girl in the mirror."

Sakura looked back at her own reflection and a smile gradually appeared on her face. "Yeah…" She then jumped at her best friend and hugged her tight. "Thank you, Tomoyo…"

Just then, another maid came running into the room with a face that looked a bit panicked. "Daidouji-san! Daidouji-san! It's His Highness! He's—He's here!"

"His Highness? That's odd… I wasn't expecting him to come over today." Her thoughts snapped when she immediately realized her friend's situation.

"The prince?!" Sakura worried. "S-Should I go out to greet His Highness too?"

"That might not be a good idea..." Tomoyo replied, thinking back on Sakura's brother. She wouldn't want to get her friend in trouble when she returns home. She quickly asked the two maids who helped them with the gown to escort Sakura upstairs.

"Tomoyo… But—"

"Don't worry! They'll just help you get changed upstairs, okay?"

As Sakura was being escorted away by the maids, Tomoyo heaved a deep sigh and composed herself before heading out of the room to meet with the prince.

Their young family butler led her to the living room. As soon as she stepped inside, her eyes immediately met with the prince's who, in turn, gave her a gentle smile. He was seated on a couch with his royal attendant standing behind him.

Tomoyo walked towards the prince and gracefully curtsied before him. "Your Highness," she greeted.

Eriol stood from the chair and greeted her back with a kiss on her hand. "Tomoyo, you look as lovely as always."

Unlike most of the girls who were easily swooned by the prince's words, Tomoyo simply smiled at him. "Why, thank you. And you are as kind as always, Prince Eriol."

"Why the formality? I've told you before that you can just call me by my first name, remember?"

"But it would be rude to act too familiar with the royal prince."

"Oh? But aren't we already familiar with each other?" He held both of Tomoyo's hands almost close to his chest, shortening the distance between them, until his attendant interrupted him with a fake and loud cough.

"Your Highness," spoke the red-haired lady, "forgive me for interrupting but I believe you may be forgetting that we are quite in a hurry after all for your next meeting." She put on a lovely yet sarcastic smile.

"Thanks for the kind reminder, Nakuru," Eriol smiled back innocently.

"It's an honor to have you here in our humble home, Your Highness, but I do wonder why the sudden visit?" Tomoyo finally asked.

Eriol paused for a bit as if in thought. "Nothing much. I just wanted to see the lovely Daidouji-san," he said with but an innocent smile. Nakuru sighed heavily.

"I'm very humbled, but don't you have more important things to attend to?"

"Well, seeing you happens to be important to me as well."

The maids standing by the side tried to keep their squeals as quiet as possible. The head maid clicked her tongue to remind the girls to maintain proper behavior.

A butler later arrived with a tray of refreshments. After Eriol took a cup, he "accidentally" poured some of the red peach tea on his attire.

"Oh dear me..."

Everyone in the room sweatdropped and thought, 'He did it on purpose.'

"I apologize for this mess. Do you mind if I excuse myself to your comfort room?"

Nakuru couldn't help but rub her forehead in slight annoyance. She knew he was purposely trying to prolong their stay to avoid meeting with the high officials later in the day. Even though she understood how much Eriol disliked talking to people who spoke highly of themselves only to gain his favor, the fact that he was the country's prince couldn't be avoided—and so were his responsibilities. Visiting the Daidoujis, let alone Tomoyo, was not even a part of their agenda for the day.

After Tomoyo asked their butler to escort the prince to the bathroom, Nakuru quickly attempted to follow them until Eriol turned to her and stopped.

"You're coming as well?" Eriol asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes, of course. I am His Highness's attendant after all. It is my duty to be by His Highness's side at all times."

"Nakuru, I understand that you're loyal to guarding me, but I do hope you'd let me do my business in the comfort room on my own."

Nakuru and the other people around them turned embarrassed at what he said. "W-What?" the poor attendant was beginning to stutter. "O-Of course! I mean, I-I—"

"Unless you're okay with watching me as I take off my clothes, then I guess I won't stop you from fantasizing."

And the attendant turned redder when she noticed all eyes on her. "T-That's not my intention at all! Your Highness!"

Nakuru was entirely drained from her embarrassment. She was finally going to let him go in her defeat until she heard a low snicker from the wise prince. Quickly, she pulled the butler on the sleeve of his coat and glared at him menacingly, making the butler shiver in fear. "Promise me that you won't take your eyes off him! PROMISE ME!" she begged horribly. "You have no idea what he can do…"

A few minutes later…

The young butler ran back into the room with his forehead covered in sweat. "I can't find the prince!"

"I thought… I told you… not to… take… your eyes… OFF HIM!"

The maids and manservants of the house were keeping Nakuru from throwing the long table at the frightened butler. All were amazed and frightened at her incredulous strength when she lost control of her fuse.

Meanwhile, the two maids with Sakura looked very pleased with her new makeover.

"Oh, Kinomoto-san! You look so lovely no matter what you wear!" one of them praised as she finished fixing Sakura's hair into an elegant loose French braid.

"T-Thank you for helping me get changed but…" Sakura held her elegant green dress, "Why must I be dressed in Tomoyo's clothes?"

"This is just a precautionary action," said the other. "Just in case the prince sees you, he'd at least think that you're a nobleman's daughter."

"I see…"

They had a point. She was worried that the prince might be the type of person to judge or even question her friend's high standing in society if he found out she was friends with her, a simple country girl from outside the capital.

"I wonder what's the ruckus down there." One of the maids was peeping out of the door.

Then the other maid stood beside her and peeped out as well. "I think I hear them shouting the prince's name?"

"I wonder why…"

"Should we check it out? They all sound a bit frantic down there."

The two maids looked at each other before turning their worried faces at Sakura.

The auburn-haired girl smiled cautiously as she waved her hands. "Oh! Don't worry about me, really! It's okay. You can go ahead and see what's going on. I'll be fine here."

With Sakura's consent, the maids then bowed and excused themselves before leaving her in the room.

When Sakura was finally left alone, she couldn't help but feel uneasy. The room was slightly dimmed with the window curtains closed. The weight of the atmosphere surrounding her felt rather disturbing. It was as if someone was watching her in the shadows of the dimly lit room, though she knew no one else was left with her… or was there?

Sakura shook her head, erasing the frightening thoughts. It was not the right time for her scaredy-cat self to take over her wild imagination. She took a turn around and was about to rest on the couch when suddenly, she felt a presence by the open door behind her. And the door creaked as it closed.

She gulped as a bead of sweat ran down her face. She wouldn't dare look back and see if it was a ghost that she heard. And in a stuttered voice, she softly spoke, "Is s-someone there?"

A male voice behind her let out a soft laugh, finding her scared voice rather amusing. "Let's open the curtains, shall we? It would feel better to let the sun come in."

As the man passed by Sakura, she was bewildered to have found herself in His presence. Just by looking at the man's clothes, she was able to tell that he was the person she was trying to avoid contact just a few moments ago.

After letting the light of the sun come in through the windows, Eriol paused for a moment in thought. "I wasn't aware Daidouji-san had another visitor in her humble home… It's a mystery to find a guest here in a room all by herself," he turned around to finally see the girl face to face, "wouldn't you agree?"

Sakura merely stared at him with a cautious face, unbeknownst to her how to react towards a royal figure of Tomoeda.

"Ah, forgive me. I believe this is the first time we have met."

As the man stepped closer, Sakura could feel her body tremble in nervousness. When the prince took her hand, he smilingly looked at her in the eyes and gently kissed her hand.

"I'm Prince Eriol. And it's a pleasure to meet you, my lady."

Sakura merely stared at him, her eyes unwavering. The expression on her face obviously suggested she was in absolute awe. She heard horrifying stories of the royal family from her brother. But she never thought meeting an actual prince in person would feel... so different! It was not as scary as her brother made it seem to be. Rather, she was awestruck and lost for words, as if meeting a rare magical figure.

When she later noticed Eriol looking at her with a face like he was expecting some sort of reply, she quickly shook her head to bring her back to her senses.

"The pleasure is also mine, Your Highness!" She curtsied before him. "I am also very humbled to meet you in person. I apologize for not coming to meet you downstairs as I was having a change of clothes."

Eriol rose an eyebrow. "A change of clothes?"

"Uhm, yes... My friend was willing to help me get dressed for the, uhm... The..." Sakura began to stutter, not knowing if she should mention her appearance at the ball, until—

"For the ball? On the day of my birthday?" Eriol finally asked.

"Y-Yes..." Sakura slightly bowed her head.

"I see... So Madame Tomoyo has decided to bring her friend instead." Eriol looked at her curiously. He found it obvious that Sakura seemed uncomfortable with their current conversation. "Anyway, it is not my business whoever she invites to the ball. It is always a pleasure to meet new faces, most especially of a lovely lady's," he smiled at her.

Sakura stood still as she watched Eriol roaming slowly around the room, looking uninterestingly at whatever met his eyes. The silence was both uncomfortable and awkward for her.

"If His Highness wouldn't mind me asking... I was wondering if you needed anything from my friend today?"

Eriol was stopped by her question and thought about it deeply. "Well, as Tomoyo's future husband, I'm inspecting the house since we will be making our beautiful children here pretty soon."

Sakura stood dumbfounded. Eriol laughed at her priceless reaction.

"That was just a joke," he said, making Sakura sigh in relief. "But I do hope it comes true." And Sakura stared at him wide-eyed again. Eriol laughed even more.

"Seriously though... Let's just say there are times when I also needed a break. I needed to hide from the world, and a mere few minutes is enough for me."

Sakura noticed a bit of loneliness in his voice when he said that. "Instead of hiding from the world, wouldn't you rather confide in someone you trust?"

"Everyone has a secret he can't share, not even to his most trusted friend." Eriol walked towards Sakura and closed their gap. "Don't you think so as well?" he smiled.

Sakura felt her heart jump at the very near sound of his voice. She fidgeted with her hands as she slowly looked away. For some reason, she suddenly felt a heavy and fearsome power hidden behind his smile, as if he was trying to force something out of her.

"I-I, uhm..."

Eriol's heavy sigh abruptly stopped her from speaking. "As much as I adore my friend Syaoran, I couldn't exactly confide everything in him. Life is truly tough."

"Syaoran?"

"Ah, yes. He is the heir to the clan of the Lis. Have you heard of him?"

But instead of giving a reply, Sakura looked away with her cheeks burning hot in red. 'Ah, so his first name is Syaoran...', she thought to herself and blushed even more.

Eriol was a bit surprised when he noticed her red face at his mention of Syaoran's name. And soon, a new smile formed on his lips as a bright and shining plan rose from his head. He then assumed that things were going to be interesting.

"Miss Tomoyo's friend, you are coming to come to ball, am I correct?"

"Uhm, yes, Your Highness..."

To Sakura's surprise, Eriol gently took her by the shoulder and whispered to her, "Then, how about I arrange for you two to meet?"

Sakura let out a short awkward laugh. She found it funny that the prince just then reminded her of Tomoyo. "I, uhm, don't really know what to say..."

"A simple 'thank you' will suffice."

If Sakura was afraid of his mysterious smiles before, she was more creeped out by his obviously mischievous smile this time. "Uh, thank you...?"

"By the way, I can't keep calling you 'Miss Tomoyo's friend' forever now, can I? If you don't mind, may I know your name?"

Sakura became nervous. She was unsure of what to tell the prince when her brother repeatedly warned her not to even get close to their family. Her head ached as she was reminded of how many rules she had already broken that day. She even found out from Tomoyo that the Lis were close to the royal family! Her 'nii-chan' was definitely going to rampage if he found out.

"Well, miss?"

A bead of sweat ran down Sakura's face. "W-Well, uh... My name is..."

"Your Highness?"

At the shock of the two people inside the room, Tomoyo suddenly came in without a hint. She was more surprised than the other two, finding both the prince and her secret guest together in one room. She became all the more worried, but she would not show it on her face.

"Your Highness, we have been looking all over for you. I'm glad to see you are not hurt." Tomoyo showed a faint smile.

Eriol was aware of the slight displeasure in her voice yet he simply returned the smile. "Ah, yes. I was supposed to go downstairs, but my curiosity got the better in me when I met your friend. I truly apologize if I have caused you trouble."

"Yes, and I do hope we try not to make this happen again."

Sakura was surprised to hear the sudden seriousness in the tone of her friend's voice. It was the first time she heard Tomoyo that way. And to add to that, she was talking to the prince!

"You have my word," Eriol smoothly answered while keeping his smile. He then turned to Sakura and gave her a small bow. "Then, I shall meet you again on my birthday, Madame Tomoyo's friend."

After he left the room, Tomoyo rushed to Sakura's side and hugged her. "Oh, Sakura-chan! I'm so glad you're alright! I'm very sorry... The prince managed to slip past us."

"I'm okay, Tomo-chan," Sakura reassured her with a smile. "Besides, what could the prince even do? He doesn't seem to be the kind who would hurt anyone."

Tomoyo sighed. "It's not really that I'm worried about..."

"Hmm?"

"Well, you're really pretty Sakura-chan... And when it comes to beautiful girls, Prince Eriol can be a bit... forward."

At first, Sakura was confused. Then suddenly, she realized what Tomoyo could mean after she remembered the prince's joke about making kids with her best friend. "D-Did he do something to you before?"

Tomoyo laughed. "Oh, he didn't." Sakura was relieved. "...Yet."

"Oh my god..."

"A-Anyway, I can manage myself, really."

Sakura recalled how Tomoyo stood firm in front of the prince. "That's good to hear then," she smiled.

"By the way, right before I came in, I heard him asking for your name...". Tomoyo suddenly looked at her seriously. "Have you mentioned anything?"

"N-No, I haven't... I was about to, though... until you came in."

Tomoyo sighed in relief. "That's great." Her usual soft smile reappeared on her face. "Anyway, I'll have to go downstairs and attend to the prince. I don't think he'll stay for very long since I heard he still have other things to attend to. Wait for me here, okay?"

When Sakura was finally left alone, she thought back on her short conversation with the prince. She felt her head spinning after everything that had happened that day. A first encounter with the prince, and also that trouble she faced at the entrance of the inner capital. And there she met...

"Syaoran..." she muttered.

Remembering her brief moments with him made her heart twirl and her face glow in pink. The excitement in her grew ever more, awaiting the day when she would meet him again.

'But is this right?' Her face gloomed as she asked herself. All her life, she was told by her brother to never get close to their kind. But she had never gotten a very convincing answer as to why.

The prince looked kind (though a bit mischievous). Syaoran too, he seemed very sweet and gentlemanly. So what could be wrong?

She sighed falling onto the couch, and looked up to the ceiling. She was very conflicted on what to do or how to feel about her current situation. Slowly, she closed her eyes and remembered her reflection in the mirror when Tomoyo and her maids dressed her in that lovely white gown. The child in her made her want dreaming for more.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt to be careful..." she thought. "Just one night, then I'll be happy for as long as I'll remember."

* * *

Two weeks later and it was finally one of the most anticipated nights of the year. The night was filled with lights and majestic decorations. Everyone who came were elegantly dressed and appeared gracefully. Names of the guests were announced as they arrived at the occasion inside the palace, including the names of Tomoyo and Sakura.

"Daidouji Tomoyo and Fumihiko Sakura!"

Sakura gulped as her "name" was announced.

As the two lovely ladies walked down the flight of stairs, Sakura couldn't help but feel a mix of excitement and worry at the same time. She felt her heart race as she looked around the palace in wonder. Everything happening at the moment felt like a dream filled with magic, and she couldn't have wished for more. But at the same time, she feared people might see through her facade...

"Sakura-chan, is anything the matter?" Tomoyo looked at her worryingly.

Sakura quickly shook her head, not wanting to trouble her friend who did everything to get her where she was. "I'm okay," she smiled. "But... I'm not really sure if this is right... I mean, I'm not even supposed to be here. And my name, I even had to change it." Her head sank down as she felt a bit unsettled. "This is not who I am, Tomoyo..."

Tomoyo looked very concerned with how Sakura was feeling. She only wanted her friend to feel happy and enjoy the night. Thinking this, she cupped her friend's face and smiled softly at her. "It's okay to dream sometimes, Sakura-chan. And it's also okay to experience that dream for even just a fleeting moment. Dreams are something that can last for a lifetime or come by for a brief moment. That's why I'm telling you this as a friend: whenever you find that dream, don't think for a second and grasp it at once. You'll never know. It might be your only chance. And that one chance could make a big impact in your life. So, yeah... It's okay to dream, Sakura."

Sakura wanted to cry after hearing such beautiful words from her bestest friend. She quickly wrapped her arms around Tomoyo and squeezed her tight. "Thanks, Tomo-chan..."

Moments later, the celebration began with the prince's first dance. As Sakura had guessed, Eriol asked Tomoyo to be his first partner for the night, to which the latter accepted. Everyone else watched them in admiration. Many thought how the two perfectly matched each other, even Sakura herself.

Sakura was pretty surprised a few days ago when Tomoyo confessed to her that she was actually acquainted with the prince since years ago. She just wouldn't tell her before, afraid that they won't be permitted to see each other once Touya found out. Tomoyo and Eriol first met as students in a prominent school in the inner capital. Since then, the senior student had been after the indifferent junior maiden up to the present.

Right after the first dance, men and women quickly found each other a partner to dance with. Sakura, on the other hand, decided to find a place outside for a while and enjoy the scenery. She gazed at the beautiful garden from the balcony as she enjoyed the peaceful moment away from the laughs and merriment of the party.

"Tomoyo is probably still busy putting up with the prince's flirting," she chuckled as she thought to herself.

It wasn't too long when she later sighed, realizing how alone she was. As much as she wanted to join the others and dance, she couldn't find the only man she hoped to dance with. She was too embarrassed to search for him amongst the crowd she couldn't fit in.

Just then, Sakura felt an eerie presence standing behind her. She decided to act normal and wait for the person to act before she jumped to conclusions. She noticed that the man stood beside her, just a few feet away. He also stared into the gardens like what she was doing. And just like that, the air around them remained silent.

Sakura was starting to feel uncomfortable. Despite how 'normal' the man acted, she felt something wrong with the situation. She was about to go back inside when the man's voice caught her attention.

"It's a beautiful night, isn't it?"

Sakura was hesitant to reply back at first, until she decided to answer calmly, "Indeed, it is."

The man then turned to look at her, his back resting against the railing of the balcony. "I was watching you since you came. If I heard correctly, you are Fumihiko Sakura?"

Syaoran trembled. Her heart began to beat in a fast pace. "Yes, that's right."

"I was really amazed when I first saw you, Fumihiko-san. To me, your beauty stood out the most. What do you call that again?" The man pretended to pause and think. "Ah, yes! It was kind of love at first sight. Since then, I tried to find the perfect timing to finally talk to you alone. And here we are!"

Her hands were starting to sweat. "Right... Such a lucky coincidence."

"But you know... as much as I like you, I was a bit disappointed."

Sakura stepped back as soon as the man took a step forward.

"I really dislike liars." And he took a few more steps towards her.

"What do you want?" Sakura fiercely asked as she stepped back some more. And to her shock, she was caught trapped with another man behind her. Her eyes widened in surprise when she realized that the man behind her was that same guard who harassed and slapped her before. She was planning to retaliate when the guard held her arms and pointed a knife at her neck.

The guard whispered close to her ears, "Shush little princess. Or your friend Daidouji-san might be next."

"Do you remember this?" The other man showed a disheveled piece of paper that looked torn. "A line in this letter says, 'Addressed to Kinomoto Sakura'. Ha! You happened to have the same first name! Or, wait a minute! Maybe you aren't really a Fumihiko after all," the man mocked.

Sakura fiercely glared at the man standing before him.

"Hey, cuz. This girl doesn't seem to be frightened at all," the man said to the guard.

"Ah, don't mind her. She's really like that."

"That so?" the man said indifferently as he rubbed chin. "Oh well, guess we'll have to do this the hard way."

After he returned his gaze to the guard who was apparently his cousin, the guard smacked Sakura hard on the head, leaving her unconscious in his arms.

* * *

Later that night, as soon as Eriol found Syaoran, he immediately approached him, who was having a small talk with a few others. "Good evening," he greeted them.

The group of people were a bit awestruck to see His Highness approach them and greeted back. "Your Highness."

"Would you mind if I borrow my dear friend for a while?"

Syaoran looked at him questioningly. He returned his gaze to the others and excused himself momentarily. He later followed Eriol's lead until they reached a less crowded space.

"Is anything the matter, Your Highness?"

Eriol laughed softly. "It feels a bit weird and unusual to be addressed like that by you of all people."

Syaoran rolled his eyes. "What do you want, Eriol?"

"It's about your friend."

"My friend?"

"Rather, should I say, 'your woman'?" Eriol smiled playfully.

Syaoran blushed deeply. "H-How did you—" The playful smile on Eriol's face made him not want to continue his question. "Ugh… What did you do this time?"

"Don't look at me like that. I haven't done anything to her… yet." Syaoran glared at him but he merely laughed it off. "It would seem the lady is alone right now, as Tomoyo have told me. Would you like to accompany her?"

Syaoran stared at him from head to toe, wondering what mischievous little prank Eriol was up to this time. "And why would I do that?"

"Well, she is your woma—"

"Alright, stop." Syaoran groaned in annoyance. "I can't tell what you're planning AT ALL."

"You don't have to. I simply made a promise to the lovely lady that you... would meet...—" Eriol was suddenly at a loss for words as he lost the smile on his face. Syaoran became a bit concerned since it was unusual for his friend to act that way. "It's... probably best that you meet her soonest."

Eriol felt a swift pain in his head, causing him to slightly lose his balance. Syaoran fortunately caught him and aided him back up. He held Eriol's shoulder to keep him still since he still looked a bit out of it.

"Eriol?" Syaoran looked at him worryingly.

"Soonest, Syaoran." He looked at Syaoran with unsmiling eyes. "Soonest."

Syaoran immediately knew something was wrong. He quickly fled in search of the girl he met at the archway. When he caught sight of Tomoyo, he ran to her as he called out her name. As soon as he was finally next to her, he was stunned to see Tomoyo keeping her trembling hands close to her chest.

"Daidouji-san? What's the matter?"

"Oh, Li-kun..." Tomoyo was obviously struggling to keep herself strong. "I... I can't find Sakura..."

Syaoran felt an anxious thump in his chest. "She... couldn't have gone far."

"I searched almost everywhere but I still couldn't find her!" Tomoyo's voice was starting to break. "I know Sakura... She's not the type to just take off anywhere without letting at least one person close to her know. I already asked around, describing how she looks like. Then someone told me he saw a similar person just hanging out in the balcony. But she's not there!"

Syaoran realized that this must had been what caused Eriol to suddenly act unusually. But he wondered how Eriol could have known that Sakura might be in danger.

"Alright, I'll go look for help—"

"NO!" Tomoyo strongly pulled his sleeve. "The castle must not know! I— no... we don't want to cause a ruckus."

Syaoran noticed Tomoyo behaving oddly. He questioned her in his thoughts on how it would be better to actually get more people to help. She asked to not let the castle know whilst Eriol already gave him a hint that something went wrong. Despite that, he mentioned not a word about Eriol's forewarning to Tomoyo and instead promised to look for Sakura on his own.

* * *

"This is what you get after putting me in a shameful position and making me lose my job!"

Sakura clicked her tongue. She wanted to shout back at him and tell him how much he deserved it, but her body felt too weak. Her hands were tied behind the chair she was sitting on. Her dress was also torn up to her knees to keep her feet tied to the legs of the chair.

"Stop being dramatic, Akihito," shouted the ex-guard's cousin as he was climbing back down to the basement. "There's a different reason why we took this girl and it's not about your damn sob story!" The man knelt in front of Sakura and asked her for yet another time, "So tell us, what do you know about the Raven?"

Sakura kept her head down, refusing to answer, much to the man's dismay.

"You still won't say a word? Fine." He signaled his hand to his cousin before returning his gaze to Sakura. "We'll just have to inject more of that serum to get you talking."

"N-No..." Sakura begged weakly.

"What did you say?" the man mocked as he put a hand behind his ear. "Y-Yes? Yes?! YES! Give me that serum, Akihito." He started preparing the syringe as he continued to speak. "You know, things would have been muuuuch easier for you if you started talking. The others did too, you know."

Sakura regained a bit of sense into herself after hearing that there were other victims before her.

The man noticed her reaction and continued, "Yeah, there were others like you. We need info? They talk! Then, they're free. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3. Unless of course, you know, we feel like they're going to rat us out." After he was done filling the syringe, he went back and crouched in front of Sakura. "As for you... wow." He laughed and rubbed his head. "You're a rare tough one! This liquid is supposed to make people talk, but you're really something. What's your secret, huh?"

"Just get on with it," Akihito broke into their one-sided conversation.

"Shut up! I know what I'm doing." And he returned his gaze at Sakura. "We were able to fetch a pretty good word from someone that you know a lot about the Raven. And any word on the Raven is a pretty good price. So you gotta help us on this, okay?"

Sakura still kept quiet. The man was starting to get vexed. Before he could say anything else, a crashing noise was heard from above the basement.

"Akihito, check that out. It might be your stupid cat again. He just looooves breaking things."

The ex-guard muttered curses beneath his breath as he stomped his feet away.

"Stupid pig and his stupid cat. Anyway, getting back to the main topic." He playfully swayed the syringe in front of Sakura's face and said, "I'm starting to lose my patience with you so I'm going to ask you to choose. What will it be? This serum? Or your word?"

Sakura's silence finally pushed him out of his composure.

"Alright! Serum it is!"

"Ngnh!" Sakura tried to fight back but it was hopeless. She was starting to lose control of her consciousness.

Right after the man forced the liquid into her body, the door to the basement suddenly slammed open.

"What the heck is wrong with you, Akihi... to..." The man looked as if his soul was sucked out of his body when he saw a different but familiar face walking down the stairs. "Li-sama! W-What a surprise!"

"Where's the girl?"

Before the man could answer, Syaoran saw Sakura tied to a chair. He noticed the distant look in her eyes and her weak condition. The two men's unforgivable act caused him to form rage in his eyes. He rushed at the man, pushing him against the wall.

"N-N-Now, dear sir! You're not planning to kill me, are you? You wouldn't want to make the rumors true about the Lis killing in bloodshed now!"

"You seem like you were raised among the nobility so I'm guessing you've heard of the Arbiter's codex."

The man gulped. "W-What of it?"

"As written in the codex, 'Should one sin an unjustifiable sin in the eyes of man, doom shalt befall them, be in perpetual seclusion...'" Syaoran tightly held the man by his shirt as he inched his face closer and continued, "...or in the hands of the master's blade, known death."

Syaoran soon released the man from his clutches. The man fell down, engulfed by his fear as he was looked down upon by daunting amber eyes. Syaoran then crouched to the man's level, making the latter crawl back against the wall.

"Everyone thought that the 'master's blade' meant severe punishment under the Archidux Militant when in fact, it really referred to someone else. A sword is close to its king. And in reality, who do you think serves closest to our king?"

"L-Lis..." The man could barely utter a word when Syaoran trapped him in a corner.

"That's right."

The man screamed in agony when Syaoran confounded him with a blade that stabbed the wall just beside his head. His whole body trembled in fear at the murderous look on Syaoran's face.

Syaoran's lips later inched closer to the man's ear and whispered, "If I find you doing anything funny again, I just might make the rumors about us Lis come true."

As the man sat frozen on the ground, Syaoran ran to Sakura's aid and cut the ropes binding her to the chair. Sakura, barely unconscious, let out a few tears from her eyes at seeing her knight in shining armor.

Syaoran became troubled and thought she was hurt. "Are you in pain? Did they hurt you?"

To his surprise, Sakura rested her head on his shoulders and cried softly. "I... I thought I won't get the chance to see you again. I only wanted to dance and laugh with you and... and TOUCH YOU! Was that wrong? They messed with my hair and my dress and I look ugly now. I didn't want you to see me like this!"

Syaoran turned red and embarrassed at what sounded like a confession that went a bit haywire, probably because of what they drugged her with. He awkwardly patted her back to calm her down.

"They... bother so much about the Raven," she muttered. "So what... if... I am..."

And it wasn't too long until Sakura grew weary, fainting in Syaoran's arms. Syaoran was surprised to hear the last few words that came from her lips before she became completely unconscious. He was unsure if she was supposed to add something else to her sentence or if she truly referred to herself as the Raven. But that only made his suspicions on her grew more since the day they met two weeks ago, when he felt certain that it was not truly the first time they saw each other's eyes.

A bit later, when he finally carried Sakura out of the house, he was met by a white long-haired man, standing against an empty old-looking carriage that was stationed just in front of the said house.

"So I suppose he sent for you," he said coldly at the Archidux Militant.

"I was informed by his attendant. I can't refuse a request from His Highness now, can I?" Yue coolly answered back. "I was told a certain assassin had gone ahead, so I only came with this carriage for the cleanup." Syaoran was irked to hear the man refer to him as an assassin. "They also asked to keep discreet on the situation, which also explains why I'm alone."

Syaoran found it odd that Eriol somehow knew exactly what Tomoyo requested of him before he left the party—that they should avoid grabbing too much attention, most especially from the castle itself.

"I hope you've done your job well. Though it will be a problem if you caused any bloodshed."

"You don't have to worry about that," Syaoran retorted. He walked past Yue before continuing, "Then, I leave the trash in your care."

And he soon left with Sakura on his horse, heading towards the Daidouji house where he could get her to safety and comfort... and where he hoped to get some answers for Eriol's and Tomoyo's strange behaviors that very night.


End file.
